An advertisement for Dr. Scott’s Electric Corset, 1883.

This is an advertisement for a women’s undergarment that not only provided fashionable support for the heavy, highly tailored women’s clothing of the era but also promised numerous health benefits as well. An “Electric Corset” probably meant a magnet sewn into the lining of sufficient strength to move a compass needle, rather than the use of actual electricity. The advertisement illustrates Victorian-era fascinations with science and electromagnetism, health fads that made confident but dubious medical claims, and the form and function of an idealized female body.